Question: What do you want to read first, useful tips about the Zugspitze or the story of how we got the ultimate muscle soreness in a relatively short time?
I can already tell, you want to hear about the muscle soreness. Alright. So, today we were on the Zugspitze. And of course, we also wanted to go to the summit cross. Apart from the fact that you have to wait in line for a long time, getting to the cross is real mountaineering. At least for us, from the point where you leave the safe platform of the mountain station. Just to be on the safe side, there is a multilingual sign with the following warning text: 'Attention. You are leaving the secured area. Alpine hazards'.
Well, as I said, before you can surrender to the mountain, you have to wait. Although no one checks, the space on the mountain top is so limited that a long queue forms even before the safety warning. So we spent at least an hour here. Enough time to think about whether we really want to take on the ascent. Because of course, while waiting, you can see others climbing more or less awkwardly. Oh God, how embarrassing it would be to have to move on all fours out of fear. And by the way, these thoughts were not only ours, but practically everyone around us in our waiting community had them too. On top of that, the viewing platform for all the tourists who just came to look is located opposite the summit cross. They sit there comfortably with their Aperol Spritz. And of course, with their phones ready to take pictures.
At this point, I would like to greet Günter, unknown to him. His climbing wife tried for a very long time to explain to him where the trigger on the camera is: 'Günter, the silver button on the right. Did you hear? The right...'. But Günter didn't get it. Despite all the instructions, I suspect that his wife will not have a souvenir photo of her summit ascent. Just to explain, Günter was on the viewing platform while she was at the summit cross.
At some point, we finally arrived at the front of the queue and the climbing began. First, we went downhill a bit, over something like metal rungs. Then over various rocky ledges, but always with metal ropes at the side. Then there was also a metal ladder. We quickly got through all of that.
But on an intermediate plateau, there were conditions that you would expect from mountaineering on Mount Everest: Absolute congestion in front of the summit. Real mountaineers came from the left. They had set off in the valley at 5 am. Unfortunately, there were very many of them. An endless group. They were, of course, well equipped with helmets, carabiners, climbing harnesses, etc.. And everyone wanted to reach the summit immediately. We amateurs came from the right and there were quite a few of us too.
Either way, today we made movements that our muscles simply were not used to: steps in a half split or extremely deep in the knee or somehow else. But with so much adrenaline in our blood, we didn't notice anything at first. And we were really fast compared to others and didn't embarrass ourselves!
But then, when we had solid ground under our feet again, the shaky legs and muscle soreness suddenly came. Well, let's see how it is tomorrow.
But now to the promised tips:
There are several ways to get to the Zugspitze. From the German side, there is the comfortable cogwheel train. It departs from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It's worth getting up early here, because at other times, especially on sunny days, it can happen that you can't even get up due to the crowds. The cogwheel trains depart hourly at
8:15 am. It's best to take the one at that time or at the latest the train at
9:15 am. The journey takes 1.15 hours up to the Zugspitzplatt. From there, you already have a nice view. To go up to the summit, you take a short ride with the cable car to the actual Zugspitze.
Another option is the brand new cable car from Eibsee. It's much faster, but it also puts pressure on your ears.
By the way, we went up with the cogwheel train and down with the new cable car.
If you are coming from Austria, you have another option to get to the Zugspitze, namely with the Tiroler Zugspitzbahn.
Once you are on the mountain, you can walk back and forth between Germany and Austria. Without any border controls, of course!
And one more thing is possible: sending mail! Yes, indeed, there is a mailbox that is emptied daily from Monday to Saturday.
But I prefer to write you my personal letter here on
die-reisetante.de. So see you tomorrow...
